BIM Use Can Reduce Construction Costs

Building information modeling (BIM) has been creating project efficiencies from the moment designers began using its earliest renditions in the 1980s. Since then, the technology has been used in the design and construction of buildings, bridges and many other structures.

Experts believe BIM could save a significant amount of money if public agencies in the U.S. develop a common set of BIM standards and require construction companies and designers that want to do business with them to use it.

But a U.S. BIM standard won't materialize — at least for the foreseeable future. “There isn’t a prescribed structure for [a common set of government practices],” says Roger Grant, program director at the National Institute of Building Sciences. “We don’t have one agency responsible for all construction like the U.K.”

Two key questions moving forward are how is the nation going to best use its dollars and resources, and how will BIM fit into that equation?